Ephesians 4:12

“for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ”

“For”: “With. view to” (Rhm). “The perfecting”: To complete or finish. “Fully to equip” (Wey). “In order to get His holy people ready to serve as workers” (Beck). “Preparing, furnishing, equipping” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 331). “To equip completely, to develop thoroughly to maturity” (Caldwell p. 179). Basically all of the above "gifts" have to do with teaching. Spiritual growth and unity comes from proper instruction from the Word of God. “Their aim is that the members of the Church should be fully equipped (2 Timothy 3:16). The basic idea of the word (perfecting) is that of putting. thing into the condition in which it ought to be” (Barclay p. 149). Paul's goal was to present every man "complete in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). Practical applications are not very hard to find. We need to cooperate with the efforts put forth by elders, preachers and teachers to help us grow in the faith, such as attending the classes offered and learning the material covered. New converts need to be willing to invest the time it takes to become grounded in the faith. It is sad when professed Christians try to argue that they are not obligated to attend Bible study. Such demonstrates. very shallow understanding of their role in the growth and unity of the congregation. An untaught membership is the path to division (Romans 16:18; Hebrews 5:12; 2 Peter 3:16).

“Unto the work of ministering”: “For the work of service” (NASV). "Ministering" means basically "service", and various realms of "service" are mentioned in the New Testament such as teaching others (2 Timothy 2:2), encouraging (1 Thessalonians 5:14), restoring the fallen (Galatians 6:1), and caring for those in need (James 1:27; Matthew 2:31-46). The ministering under consideration applies to every member of the body. Stott says, “the word ministry is here used not to describe the work of pastors but rather of all God's people without exception” (pp. 166-167). This means that every member of the church is expected to "serve" in some capacity, yet often we get these passages all twisted around in practice. Often. congregation will think, “When we get. preacher, then work will be done”. Sadly, such an attitude assumes that the preacher is to do all the work. In contrast, Paul teaches that the "purpose" of elders, preachers and teachers is to prepare the members so they can serve. Teach them what they need to do, give them the tools, skills, and knowledge they need, and then motivate them to go out and do it (Titus 3:1; Titus 3:14). “Unto the building up of the body of Christ”: “For the ultimate building up” (Wms).

There is nothing mysterious or secret about church growth or unity in. congregation. The church grows when the elders, preachers, and teachers are providing the instruction necessary for personal growth and service, and when the members take advantage of it. In Acts chapter. we find that problems arose when. "need" was not being addressed. God is telling us that many problems never have to happen if members will simply use the talents they have and take care of the needs that they can do something about.

The desired results of this process